Young people are more likely to be unemployed or placed in insecure jobs than other age groups. They also live on lower incomes, which makes it difficult for many to find affordable housing, and increasingly report feeling lonely and isolated. These challenges affect young people and their life trajectories not only personally, they also negatively impact social cohesion, productivity, and inclusive economic growth. However, governments often respond to these challenges in a fragmented way or may lack data to understand the specific challenges young people are facing. Our work supports governments to design and deliver more coherent and better coordinated public policies and services for young people, for instance through integrated youth strategies and tools to mainstream young people’s perspectives in all fields of policymaking.
Youth empowerment & intergenerational justice
Societal upheavals such as population ageing, digitalisation, rising inequalities, and climate change bring about profound uncertainties for young people and future generations. Despite unparalleled access to information, education, and technology, trust among young people in government is low amidst new threats to the resilience of democratic institutions. To respond to these challenges, governments need to create and deliver policies that build a secure future for young people and promote intergenerational justice.
Key messages
Young people have been at the forefront of calling for ambitious government action in the fight against climate change, growing inequality, discrimination, and a shrinking civic space. However, youth, aged 18 to 29, continue to trust government less than older age groups and their perception of having a say on what government does has stalled. Young people also continue to be under-represented in public institutions, including executive and legislative bodies, and in the public sector workforce.
Our work supports governments to strengthen young people's meaningful participation in democratic processes and their representation in public institutions. In the context of digital innovations and a trend towards non-institutionalised forms of youth participation, we support governments to identify opportunities for lowering barriers to their participation in policymaking and political life, building civic and citizenship literacy and strengthening civic engagement through volunteering and youth work.
Concerns about increasing inequalities across age groups and future wellbeing are central to many of today’s most heated policy debates, such as the impact and costs of addressing climate change and the sustainability of public finances. Moreover, population ageing is raising new questions about the sustainability of traditional public service delivery models and how governments can encourage a fair representation of the interests of all age groups in society as the political weight of young people will continue to decline. Our work supports governments to understand the concept of intergenerational justice and the skills, tools, and oversight institutions that help to embed and promote it in day-to-day policymaking.
The forthcoming OECD Youth Policy Toolkit will provide hands-on guidance and good practices for policymakers to promote better opportunities for young people in line with the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People. The Toolkit will take the form of a user-friendly website, and a freely downloadable handbook bringing together over 70 good practices from OECD member countries.
The Public Governance Committee’s Friends of Youth (FoY) PLUS brings together policymakers from entities in charge of youth affairs and delegates to the Public Governance Committee. In bi-annual meetings, the FoY PLUS exchange good practices and lessons learned and discuss cutting-edge analysis in areas of joint interest.
The OECD Youth Organisations’ Sounding Board for Governance (YOUNG) includes over 700 youth organisations operating internationally, at a country level and locally on a variety of topics. Participating youth organisations are based in over 80 countries, including all OECD member countries, and are apolitical and not-for-profit. They are consulted and engaged systematically in our analytical work and policy dialogue. To know more about YOUNG
Context
The representation of young people in politics is key to strengthen their democratic engagement and encourage whole-of-society buy-in to tackle common challenges.
While 20–39-year-olds represent 34% of the voting age population on average across OECD countries, only 23% of members of parliament on average were under 40 in 2022 (representation gap of 11 percentage points).
Younger people tend to have lower trust in government
In the vast majority of OECD countries, younger people tend to trust the government less than older people. On average 36.9% of people aged 18 to 29 tend to trust the government, 40.9% of those aged between 30 and 49 trust the government, and 45.9% aged 50 and over do.
Related policy issues
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Rule of Law and access to justice play crucial role in restoring trust, ensuring respect of democratic values and supporting an inclusive recovery. Citizens expect equal access to justice, in line with the Riga Justice Agenda, which focused on developing an integrated and interdisciplinary justice response to present and future global crises. The key role of access to justice is recognised to enable democracies to deliver on people’s expectations, as improving access to justice is a key part of accessible government, in line with the SDG Agenda to leave no one behind.Learn more
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The spread of false and misleading information poses significant risks to the well-being of people and society. While such content is not necessarily illegal, it can contribute to polarisation, jeopardise the implementation of policies, and undermine trust in democratic institutions and processes. Action is required to strengthen the integrity of information spaces to protect freedom of expression and democratic engagement.Learn more
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Young people have bounced back strongly in the labour market despite the sizable impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. As of May 2022, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year-olds across OECD countries stood at 10.4%, a rate lower than before the onset of the pandemic (12.0% in January 2020).Learn more
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The impact of years of health, geopolitical and economic crises have heightened the urgency for governments to ensure accurate and timely information exchange and reconnect with citizens. Yet, amidst the challenges posed by an increasingly complex information environment, governments also find themselves presented with new avenues for public communication, stemming from the digital transformation.Learn more
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Many young people, who have been hard hit by the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly struggle to find a quality, affordable home of their own. The enduring rise of real rents and house prices over the past decades has made it more and more difficult for them to rent or buy their first home in many OECD countries. In a new Issues Note, we document a number of key challenges facing young people in the housing market and highlight a series of questions for policymakers (Cournède & Plouin, 2022).Learn more
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The case for action to strengthen our democracies is clear: lower voter turnout in many countries, diminishing trust, greater political polarisation, and larger groups disassociating themselves from traditional democratic processes are testing our institutions and hindering governments’ ability to effect positive change for citizens. Our work on open government looks at how governments ensure the inclusion, quality and impact of participatory processes to enable all citizens and stakeholders to influence government activities and decision making and actively participate in the public life.Learn more